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Links 12/13/2023

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The ‘Rarest Alligator in The World’ Was Just Born in Florida ScienceAlert (Chuck L)

Scientists practice communicating with aliens by chatting to whales New Atlas (furzy)

These cryopreserved baby corals are the first to reach adulthood Yale Climate Connection

Once They Were Pets. Now Giant Goldfish Are Menacing the Great Lakes. New York Times (Dr. Kevin)

‘Godzilla Minus One’ Is Highest-Grossing Japanese Film In U.S. History Forbes. Godzilla forever!

Addiction doctors spar with methadone clinics over legislation STAT (Dr. Kevin)

#COVID-19

COVID study: 40% of children still infectious after symptom resolution CIDRAP

Climate/Environment

Countries reach ‘historic’ COP28 deal to transition from fossil fuels Financial Times. Lead story.

US Climate Bill ‘Ignites New Zeal’ Around the World for Government Climate Efforts Politico

Solar and Wind To Top Coal Power In US For First Time In 2024 reve

China?

Xi Asks Vietnam to Stop Outsider Efforts to ‘Mess Up’ Region Bloomberg

EU firms are reluctant to speak up on China as Brussels tries to de-risk South China Morning Post

India

Covert Indian operation seeks to discredit Modi’s critics in the U.S. Washington Post (furzy)

Biden’s Reportedly Planned Snubbing Of Modi Bodes Ill For Bilateral Ties Andrew Korybko

Ethiopia could become latest African country to default after missing bond payment African Business. I had thought Ethiopia’s very shaky finances made it a questionable BRICS+ candidate, at least early on.

Old Blighty

Rishi Sunak sees off Tory rebellion in Rwanda bill vote BBC (Kevin W)

European Disunion

Gaza

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 67: Israeli forces storm Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia Mondoweiss

Gaza’s al-Fukhari is dangerously overcrowded as Israel pushes people south Aljazeera (ma)

Know their names: Hundreds of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2023. Aljazeera (ma)

Missile strikes Norwegian tanker in Red Sea RT (Kevin W)

Rifts between Biden and Netanyahu spill into public view CNN (Kevin W)

Israel’s Netanyahu Rejects U.S. Plan for Postwar Gaza Wall Street Journal (David L)

Can an Israeli security zone succeed in Gaza when it failed in southern Lebanon? Arab News

UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly in favour of Gaza ceasefire Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

These 8 countries joined US and Israel in opposing UN resolution on Gaza The Hill

* * *

DID HAMAS CARRY OUT MASS RAPES ON OCTOBER 7? Mint Press. Hate to run this story. Inept headlines like that reinforce the propaganda no matter what the text says.

New Not-So-Cold War

Zelensky Circus Comes to Town for One Last Encore Simpicius the Thinker

Zelensky’s visit ‘disgraceful’ – US senator RT

Ukraine faces a daunting winter after Zelensky can’t convince Republicans to move quickly on new aid CNN

From Politico’s European morning newsletter. If this deal gets done, which seems likely, it raises the specter of the EU approving a big package for Ukraine while the US does not:

BUYING OFF ORBÁN: EU leaders and their aides are in frantic negotiations with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on a deal to give him more EU money in exchange for him lifting his veto on aid for Ukraine…

Reminder: EU leaders want to approve two key support measures for Kyiv: A €50 billion lifeline for Ukraine’s war-struck economy, and starting EU accession talks. Orbán is blocking both, in what MEPs described as “blackmail.”

Hungary on Tuesday decided to talk turkey: Budapest would stop vetoing new financial aid for Ukraine, if Brussels unblocks all the funds that were supposed to go to Hungary, but which the EU froze over corruption and rule of law concerns, according to Orbán’s political director.

€10B today: Brussels is expected to announce this afternoon that it will release some €10 billion in frozen EU funds for Hungary. (Officials said they were waiting for Tuesday’s judiciary reform to be published in Hungary’s official gazette today before pulling the trigger.)

But a more recent account, just before 4 AM EST:

Viktor Orbán doubles down on opposition to EU accession talks with Ukraine – Europe live Guardian. So is the bribe only enough to get Orban to agree to the funding package?

Ukraine’s Elite 47th Mechanised Brigade Surrounded and Low on Ammunition: Critical Front Faces Collapse Military Watch. Out of character for Military Watch. Avdiivka. They don’t usually do battlefield accounts. Wonder if perceived necessary to inform readers Project Ukraine is in trouble.

Ukraine’s Top Mobile Operator Hit By Biggest Cyber Attack of War So Far Reuters

Swiss banks charging Russians for frozen accounts RT (Kevin W). Takes a lot of cheek.

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

E-books are fast becoming tools of corporate surveillance Fast Company (Paul R)

Pharmacies sharing medical data without police warrant: Congressional investigation The Hill (Kevin W)

Imperial Collapse Watch

PATRICK LAWRENCE: Gaza & Confronting Power Consortium News

Scott Ritter: Why the Pentagon is a multitrillion-dollar fraud RT

US below Malaysia:

Our No Longer Free Press

Evaluating anti-misinformation policies on social media VoxEU. Kill me now.

Biden Attacks the First Amendment: “Were there No Israel, there Wouldn’t Be a Jew in the World that Is Safe” Sam Husseini

New Feature: Fact-Checking NewsGuard Matt Taibbi

Tireless Busybodies Again Target Substack Matt Taibbi

Woke Watch

Study finds new abortion and LGBT policies negatively impact interstate migration PhysOrg (Dr. Kevin)

AI

“Elon Musk’s Grok Twitter AI Is Actually ‘Woke,’ Hilarity Ensues” Forbes. Paul R: “Coming soon, reeducation camps for chatbots.”

Israel’s AI can produce 100 bombing targets a day in Gaza. Is this the future of war? TechxPlore (Dr. Kevin). Scott Ritter has been very critical of AI in military/intel operations and attributed Israel’s Oct. 7 intel fail to reliance on AI. Ritter has done a great deal of target selection. I hope he weighs in on this news.

Meet Ashley, the world’s first AI-powered political campaign caller Reuters (Chuck L)

Apple Makes Security Changes to Protect Users From iPhone Thefts Wall Street Journal (David L)

Class Warfare

You probably shouldn’t give your money to an elite university Noah Smith (Dr. Kevin)

What’s Left … And What’s Left? Aurelien

Antidote du jour. Mike K:

The following picture I took a couple years ago for the Antidote du jour. It is a little Christmas-y. He/she was hanging around the neighborhood for about a year. I tried to look it up and believed it to be a Red-tailed Hawk. Apparently pretty common on the US east coast where I live.

And a bonus (Chuck L):

A second bonus (Chuck L):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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148 comments

  1. GramSci

    Re: Swiss banks charging Russians for frozen accounts

    We should thank our Swiss comrades for helping Putin to purge his rentier oligarchs.

  2. The Rev Kev

    ‘Can you find the snow leopard?’

    Yeah, got it but damn man, its hard to make out. Luckily for that snow leopard it has both the height advantage and it’s prey are all looking in the wrong direction.

    1. nippersdad

      I think I found him, but only using your hints. If one was hiking in the Himalayas and one of those were around you would never know what hit you.

      1. Jabura Basaidai

        really? that statement needs to be “M” i’m outa here – y’all put me on a list and every comment no matter how innocuous will be “M”? – very disappointing to see how this works – it is censorship – bye bye –

    4. Steven A

      Found him, but only after going to the Wikipedia page to get an idea of what a snow leopard looks like.

  3. Mikerw0

    Regarding donating to elite universities…

    We concluded a long time ago that giving to out ‘elite’ alma mater was a ridiculous waste of time and money. It goes to making an already outrageously large endowment even bigger. That’s it, full stop. By my month at this business’ (its not really a school) size it could virtually operate the whole place off of investment income if it so choose. So our donation goes to nothing.

    1. ex-PFC Chuck

      A comment that has previously been batted around here is that elite universities are hedge funds that occasionally hold classes. Seems logical.

      1. The Rev Kev

        By the same token, would that then make some colleges sports franchises that occasionally hold class too?

  5. Zagonostra

    >These 8 countries joined US and Israel in opposing UN resolution on Gaza – The Hill

    Many people just look at the headline and don’t understand that this resolution is nonbinding, unlike the Security Council Resolution that was vetoed by U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood on Friday, December 8th.

    There was an Banksy-like image that was making the rounds on Twitter/X with close to 3M views of Robert Wood holding his hand high up in the air with blood dripping down. I had a heck of a time finding this image to send to a friend, it doesn’t come up on browser searches.

    The image, even though just a drawing, is emblematic and will stay in my brain for a long, long time.

    https://twitter.com/yassindraws/status/1734303044458668224/photo/1

    2. nippersdad

      I can never get over how many times the US can tout places like Nauru with a straight face as being a part of its’ coalition at the UN. Even if you have an idea where it is, it is still hard to find. Even if you can find it this week, should there be a bad storm there is no guarantee that it will be there next week. But it is nice to know that thirteen thousand people living on a sand bar in the South Pacific have our backs should we ever need them.

      Their army must be awesome. Just send their peace keeping forces to the Gaza strip and everything will work out fine.

      1. Wukchumni

        Nauru is actually a good fit for us, as it went from being one of the wealthiest places in the world to being one of the poorer countries, all because shit didn’t happen anymore.

    3. pjay

      I’ve also seen this image in several places; very powerful. It’s interesting that Linda Thomas-Greenfield managed to avoid casting this vote and therefore becoming the subject of such images. Her underling gets stuck with the “honor,” and the infamy.

  6. Probably a Windmill

    > Israel’s AI can produce 100 bombing targets a day in Gaza. Is this the future of war?

    Weirdly enough Randal Munroe called this like 5 years ago. (https://xkcd.com/1968/)

    The alt text of “I don’t worry about how powerful the machines are, I worry about who the machines give power to.” is in line with what every prominent contemporary Luddite¹ says Luddism is

    [1] insofar as having a reasonably successful podcast or book can actually be called “prominent”

    1. The Rev Kev

      If Israel’s AI can produce 100 bombing targets a day in Gaza, then are we to assume that every single one of those bombed buildings that you see were Hamas headquarters, storage depots, training centers and the like? Frankly I have no idea why the US is shipping so many precision-guidance bombs to Israel when the Israelis are just using them to bomb everything in sight. You only need ‘dumb iron’ bombs for that.

      1. ambrit

        I forget where, but I have seen the theory floated that most of the “precision” bombs entering Israel now are being saved up for strikes on Iran in the near future.

        1. Randy

          I wonder how Israel is going to get those precision bombs delivered to targets in Iran. According to what I hear Iran has very formidable air defenses.

      2. John

        But it is ever so much more elegant to put the bomb precisely in the lap of the nursing mother, don’t you think?

    2. Martin Oline

      Israel’s AI can produce 100 bombing targets a day in Gaza will produce the courtroom defense “I was only following the machine’s orders.”

      1. nippersdad

        LOL!

        I said that to a friend of mine the other day. He doesn’t think that will fly at the Hague, either.

    3. Es s ce tera

      I wonder if the introduction of AI here will lead to a situation where WOPR concludes that this is a strange game and the only winning move is not to play. One can hope…

  7. griffen

    I had posted something on Zelensky being at the White House…many apologies if this gets put up more than once**…Can the man at least pretend better and wear a suit and tie? I get this sweater look is part of his approach from past visits…

    Well he does not leave empty handed. $200 million. Merry Christmas to our homeless American people living in their cars. Nothing for you !!

    Not blaming this spectacular site, nor our wondrous hosts and moderators. First world problem, a sometimes functional POS keyboard.

    1. The Rev Kev

      For Zelensky this whole trip was a fiasco. Unless those $60 billion are passed in the next three days, that is it so nothing till next year – maybe. And the Ukraine will be running on fumes. But wait, it got worse for him. In the past Biden and others have always said that classic line that they are with the Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” Not this time. Biden said instead “as long as we can” which is a whole different kettle of fish-

      https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/12/biden-not-making-promises-us-will-further-assist-ukraine-00131433

      And rumour has it that while in public Zelensky wears those daggy green t-shirts, in private he wears Desmond Merrion Supreme Bespoke suits.

      1. ChrisFromGA

        Expect some accounting “errors” to surface with past Pentagon funding, you know, that $10M tank is now valued at $5M due to depreciation, tax loss carryforwards, or net present valuation what-not.

        Voila! Another $500M falls out of the glove compartment, now available to tide our boy over until January.

        1. Polar Socialist

          The back of the envelope statistics say that pre-war budget of Ukraine was $100M per day. Some news sources claim that the war is costing Ukraine an other $100M per day.

          So, put together the $700M would cover about half a week.

          Less, if the grift is not yet included.

      2. griffen

        We could always pass the proverbial hat for Operation Ukraine and so he could save some face along with his bacon. Alas, Zelensky is no George Bailey and Madame Zelensky is not even close to Mary Bailey.

        2. Amfortas the Hippie

          or, taking a cue from HEALCARE IN AMERICA< Z COULD HAVE A BAKESALE>>COFFEE LITERALLY SPILT IN KEYBOARD

      3. Feral Finster

        “And rumour has it that while in public Zelensky wears those daggy green t-shirts, in private he wears Desmond Merrion Supreme Bespoke suits.”

        Zelenskii also speaks Russian, not Ukrainian, when the mike is off. So what? The perception is what matters, and Zelenskii is still touted as the reincarnation of George Washington, Julius Caesar, Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Solon, and Jesus Christ, all rolled into one.

      4. k

        the real fiasco is this guy will end up just fine – same cannot be said for all the myriad others wearing camo clothes. same as it ever was.

        1. hk

          I truly hope that some Kiev gas station will prove you wrong soon enough (although you are probably right).

      1. britzklieg

        to continue on your comment, unrelated to Z-boy… I saw an interview with Olivier where he said the most important aspect for finding the character was how the character walks. Makes sense to me. And going even further outside the box just because it’s interesting… Birgit Nilsson, the famed Swedish Wagnerian, said the most important thing for singing well was a comfortable pair of shoes, heh…

    3. nippersdad

      I have been reliably informed that the dreary green sweatshirt with an iron cross on it (winter version of the summer uniform of dreary green T-shirts with iron crosses on them) is a sign of non-conformity in the face of an overbearing elite that we must all rebel against by showing how drearily we can dress on every possible occasion in which we interact with them.

      https://twitter.com/LordOfTheYeti1/status/1732442931762458878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1732442931762458878%7Ctwgr%5E2946e727fb3e4fbdec4e262d4fba3a3274b75660%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nakedcapitalism.com%2F2023%2F12%2F200pm-water-cooler-12-7-2023.html

      It is apparently a thing.

    4. Oh

      Does Biden hand him a pallet of Benjamins or does he (the family blogger) get the money directly deposited into his account at the Swiss Bank?

  9. Antifa

    ISRAEL
    (melody borrowed from Wonderful World by Sam Cooke)

    Don’t know much about bigotry
    We pursue it religiously
    By the laws in our great big book
    Standing strong on the land we took

    For our orthodox worldview
    Lets us do what we want to do
    And we don’t care if you disagree

    Palestinian olive trees
    Handed down through their families
    We make all of ’em disappear
    Tell those Arabs they can’t live here

    What a terrible thing to do
    But they’re goyim so whoop-dee-doo
    We’ll steal it all happily

    Apartheid may seem so imprudent
    Reserving all rights to me
    We’ll kill every Arab impudent
    From the river to the sea

    Got America on our side
    They don’t care about genocide
    We’re their threat to the oily states
    We watch over these narrow straits

    They’ve got nukes and we’ve got a bunch
    We can land quite a counterpunch
    You’ll be dead to our big victory

    We tell lies through our Hasbara
    Make up bullshit like la-la-la
    We win conflicts by hook or crook
    We won’t give back the land we took

    If we bite more than we can chew
    We call the red white and blue
    And they send us weapons for free

    1. LaRuse

      That’s what I think too. Another East Coast resident here, I mostly see red shouldered hawks in my area, although every now and then a red tailed hawk shows up.

    3. Mikex

      Haha- I just came in here to correct the record! I looked the info up a couple years ago when I snapped the photo. Stupidly, I didn’t double check myself until after I sent it to Yves instead of before. I should have said it is a red-shoulder hawk, and according to the Audubon Society they are common throughout the Southern US, not just the east coast. My apologies for disseminating disinformation!

  11. The Rev Kev

    ‘Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺
    @witte_sergei
    The American manpower crisis is so severe that the Ford – quite literally the most premiere American surface asset – is operating with hundreds of sailors trimmed from its complement. The Navy can no longer adequately crew its most important vessels.’

    That’s bad news in wartime. If that carrier gets hit causing mass casualties, will they have enough sailors to both sail that boat and to make up damage control teams to fight any fires? I was reading a book from about thirty years ago about life on a US carrier. You would see exhausted sailors sleeping on the corridor floors and would have to be careful not to walk on any of them. One guy got the fright of his life when, exhausted, he rested his head on a jet wing for a moment as all was quiet on that deck but when he snapped awake a few seconds later, the whole flight deck was full of moving aircraft, vehicles and men. He felt lucky not to have been killed. Anyway, unless they are not going to just have robot ships, they will have to recruit new people. Say, are these guys still available?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InBXu-iY7cw (4:01 mins)

    1. Benny Profane

      You wonder that the under staffing is by design. Some higher ups have to know that, in this day and age of Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and AI drone swarms, that those carriers are literally sitting ducks along with the thousands of sailors and pilots on them.

      1. John

        True, but a full crew, I presume, means a more efficient ship. It is easy to avoid the Kinzhal. Don’t annoy the Bear.

      2. LifelongLib

        I keep hearing different stories about the ultimate source of U.S. military manpower problems. Is it not enough people in the appropriate age range, not enough physically/mentally fit people, not enough people who are interested in joining the military, not enough money to pay for it all, or some combo of these, or something else?

        1. Wukchumni

          After 9/11, every boy whose grandfather stormed the beaches on Normandy on D-Day+9, and whose father smoked more Thai stick than you can shake a stick at, and most importantly had a military heritage in their family, probably enlisted as it was something military families do.

          But what 19 year old son or daughter of an Afghan/Iraq war vet is all that enthralled with the military, and wants to continue the tradition?

          1. Benny Profane

            This.

            And everyone else is in college or playing video games in the basement.

            And all of this is very important and is being ignored. We need bodies. Immigration? Maybe. Lord only knows the political turmoil a draft would create. Maybe for good.

          2. LifelongLib

            My understanding is that in the U.S. it’s only relatively recently (WW2 and later) that being in the military was considered an honorable occupation. Before that the enlisted ranks were mostly refuges for ne’er-do-wells and dumping grounds for juvenile delinquents. One historian described 19th century Navy ships as “floating jails”. So maybe we’re just reverting (as in so many other ways) to older historical norms…

            1. Benny Profane

              Winston Churchill: “Don’t talk to me about naval tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.”

    2. NYMutza

      Aircraft carriers are never meant to be sent into actual battle. They are merely a SHOW of force, not a real force. The United States will never put its carriers in harms way. Far too risky. The US navy these days is experimenting with pilotless refueling tankers in order to extend the range of carrier attack aircraft so as to be able to keep the carriers themselves outside the range of Chinese anti-ship missiles. Don’t expect to see carriers entering the Straits of Hormuz where they would then be in range of Iran’s missiles. Instead, they will loiter in the northern Arabian Sea at a safe distance.

      1. ilsm

        Good place for a USN aircraft carrier is close to friendly land based fighter aircraft and missile defenses……

  12. The Rev Kev

    “Viktor Orbán doubles down on opposition to EU accession talks with Ukraine – Europe live”

    You know, it’s not very hard. All the EU has to do is pay Hungary the money they they owe them and Orbán would probably agree to give the nod to that $50 billion. Unless that is….unless that that money has already been spent. Maybe even sent to the Ukraine instead – minus “Commissions” of course. Could be.

    But Michael McFaul has a bit of an a*** saying that-

    ‘Maybe it’s time for Orban to start negotiations over Hungary leaving the European Union and joining the Eurasia Economic Union? See how that goes down with Hungarian voters?’

    According to Alexander Mercouris, Michael McFaul is one of the major figures behind Project Ukraine. And because of the blowback from his project, the Eurasia Economic Union is looking a better bet than the European Union right now.

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      And no american should delude him or herself about what those who justify, support and defend this conduct are capable of in the future.

  14. VTDigger

    Yeah real impressive AI, very discerning. Is the rubric “If building then bomb”? Next level AI.

    Waiting for my Captchas to read: “Click all the Hamas safe houses in the pictures.”

    1. ilsm

      Fighter aircraft fly using “mission plan” SW; the ingress, egress and engagement are programmed and loaded into the aircraft data buss.

      AI fed enough data speeds the “writing” of the mission programs, often the turns etc are so numerous and precise the pilot just rides along…..

      Drones with a body on board.

  15. Colonel Smithers

    Thank you, Yves.

    With regard to Cameron, he’s having to back pedal over China as the hawks in the Tory party are in the ascendancy and, if not individually like George Smith, now masquerading as a toff called Ian Duncan Smith after marrying a Buckinghamshire toff*, they can make trouble for him.

    In addition, he’s warming to the idea of staying in front line politics after the next election.

    Cameron has family and business links with Hong Kong, going back to the foundations of HSBC and Standard Chartered in the 19th century. His father and grandfather, both senior partners at Panmure, were stock brokers for Jardine Matheson. He interned at JM and, as PM, employed a Keswick heiress to JM as adviser. The courting of China was not entirely misplaced or made in bad faith when Cameron was PM.

    Much of the City opposes the unnecessary hawkishness towards not just China, but Russia, too, and not just for business reasons. The slavish devotion to the sinking ship that is USS USA USA causes concern, too. We’re pirates in the City. We don’t go down with sinking ships.

    *If we Buckinghamshire peasants knew Smith was in the running, others less well bred would have also wooed Betsy Fremantle (as in Fremantle and Swan river in Rev Kev and Skippy country). What is the world coming to, eh!?

    1. Eclair

      And thank you, Colonel, for another eye-opening and morally-uplifting expose of the web of intermarriages and old-boy networks that keep our ruling betters firmly in their divinely ordained upper class orbits.

      And for the observation that ‘pirates don’t go down with their sinking ships!’

    2. skippy

      Ha … Colonel …

      ‘BEEN’ there and done that for 30 years now, a stroke set me free – snort.

      My personal fav is a well heeled jr partner lawyer that went up to lofty heights sort back in the day, married into a merger, had two kids then fancied another firm lawyer. Wife got a whiff [excessive apt in CBD overnight stays] and things sploded* … wait for it … so during one early post split discussion mid evening she tried to wrap a coat hanger around his neck … he repeated this behavior two more times with others … yet enviably rose in the professional ranks …

      I think in the Oz case the punch line would be – ***The Provincials*** …. it really is a small world down under …

      In other news my two girls in SE-1, one with long term firm boyfriend are returning to Oz next year and the other single social butterfly traveling – everywhere – and has friends – everywhere is making packet as an assistant property mgr whilst gallivanting all over the place.

      Look after yourself mate …

  16. The Rev Kev

    ‘StarBoySAR 🇭🇰 🇨🇳 🥭
    @StarboySAR
    Dec 12
    UK’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron, at the Aspen Security Forum, when asked if China’s real goal is peaceful reunification with the Island of Taiwan (“without firing a shot”) Cameron answered: The policy approach we both (US &UK) share is that this cannot happen…🤬’

    Isn’t that adorable? Cameron actually thinks that he gets a say. For the US at least, official policy is to declare that Taiwan is part of China. After leading the UK into a train wreck and then running away from the consequences, you would think that he would be satisfied with more porcine pursuits. But I guess that now he wants to lead the UK into a confrontation with China on the other side of the planet. Let me know how that works out.

    1. Gerald

      Listen to the actual, full video of the conference and he says “in way that involves force or voilence or coercion”.

  17. maps

    Sorry if this article has been linked to before, but I find it to be an interesting contrast to the Aurelien article

  18. JW

    ‘Biden’s Reportedly Planned Snubbing Of Modi Bodes Ill For Bilateral Ties’
    Wonder if Putin along with his SU35s can clear his diary?

  19. Carolinian

    Re Biden “Were there no Israel, there wouldn’t be a Jew in the world that is safe”

    This attitude, which many elderly Jews seem to share, is the death of peace because it assumes that Jews will be hated no matter what and only might makes right in such a situation. It’s them versus Amalek.

    It also flies in the face of reality since Jews have always been an active part in American and many other societies while facing social discrimination over religion, mainly. But then many Protestants and Catholics used to vehemently hate each other so it’s not as though the Jews were the only minority in this respect.

    So not only is Israel a 19th century colonial idea but it’s justifications are throwbacks as well. The modern world is increasingly secular with our new main religion of money to argue about. It’s really time for these 19th century people to be dragged into the 21st.

    As for discrimination, growing up in a small Southern town Jewish people were not even on my radar screen and the fact that so many entertainment figures like Jack Benny were Jewish didn’t register. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they are out to get you. But Biden and Bibi seem determined to roll back the clock so perhaps this is the real purpose of Gaze–to keep the pot boiling.

      1. Carolinian

        Isn’t paranoia considered a syndrome–on the APA list?

        MLK wanted the world to become colorblind and that’s right. It’s just pigment. Meanwhile in America we’ve always been Constitutionally religion blind and mostly have been, at least compared to Europe. And that’s right too. Pretending that you are different doesn’t mean you are different. Science says no. Somebody tell Israel.

        Humanity with a capital “H” has many more important problems.

    2. britzklieg

      “Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics
      And the Catholics hate the Protestants
      And the Hindus hate the Muslims
      And everybody hates the Jews

      But during
      National Brotherhood Week, National Brotherhood Week
      It’s National Everyone-Smile-At-One-Another-hood Week
      Be nice to people who are inferior to you
      It’s only for a week so have no fear
      Be grateful that it doesn’t last all year.”

      https://genius.com/Tom-lehrer-national-brotherhood-week-lyrics

      2. SteveB

        emo philips:

        Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

        He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

        He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”

        Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.
        ======================================================
        IMO It’s all about Market Share

    3. nippersdad

      “As for discrimination, growing up in a small Southern town Jewish people were not even on my radar screen and the fact that so many entertainment figures like Jack Benny were Jewish didn’t register.”

      Hard to believe now, but I can remember all of those revelations as well.

        1. Wukchumni

          The coin biz was about 30-40% Jewish, and almost entirely males in makeup of who was pushing old metal.

          20x to 30x the population base of Jews in the country on a percentage basis.

          I very much enjoyed their company and lets face it, Jewish people are pretty smart on average. I had nothing but fair dealings with maybe 100 Jewish numismatists, mensches one and all!

          In no way, shape or form did they resemble Israeli Jews I had the misfortune of encountering, it was as if they were a completely different people.

            1. SteveB

              Hasidic Jews are taking over Ocean County NJ…….. Started in Lakewood, now Jackson and Toms River. They vote as a group Pols will not challenge, Rural areas becoming cities.. Very “Jewish” not goyish at all………………..sS

        2. nippersdad

          Mr. Rich (of Rich’s department store) lived across the street from my Grandmother. She loved the guy, would only go to his store and used to tell stories of how he accepted script during the war. No one ever mentioned that he was Jewish when we waved at him from the porch, which is good because we didn’t know what Judaism was.

          Other things we were not informed about were Italians, Catholics, the civil rights movement or that great aunt who moved to some place called “New Jersey”. Looking back, it really was an incredibly insular time. I can easily see how it would not have registered, because I had the same experience.

        3. Socal Rhino

          Growing up protestant in northern NJ, prejudice toward roman catholics was still a thing, but I saw no antipathy toward Jews. If it existed, I suspect it was more of an elite phenomena as in exclusion from certain private schools and country clubs.

      2. Offtrail

        My first and practically only personal encounter with antisemitism happened in grade school. We were playing baseball after school. There was a close play at third, and a hot argument erupted. The third baseman said to the runner. “You, you JEW”. I was dumbfounded. What did the fact that Weiss was Jewish have to do with whether he was safe or not?

  20. Benny Profane

    The NYT ran a stupefying bit of propaganda masked as an article yesterday filled with lies about Russian losses the same day Zelensky and Biden begged for billions. Russia Has Suffered Staggeringly High Losses, U.S. Report Says https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/us/politics/russia-intelligence-assessment.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

    But Larry Johnson does a post mortem:

    https://sonar21.com/why-the-united-states-military-is-clueless-when-it-comes-to-ukraine/

    “also want to re-visit a point I raised about the intelligence failure on the part of Ukraine. Where did they get the information that indicated the Russian armed forces were weak, poorly trained, weighted down with lousy morale, and lacking in adequate supplies of artillery shells and ammunition? My initial assumption was that this was a fabricated information op by Western intelligence. But I am now inclined to believe this was a Russian deception operation — Maskirovka. Given the robust NATO ISR capabilities that were shared freely with Ukraine, it would be virtually impossible for Russia to mask its troop and vehicle movements. Did the Russian General Staff feed the West bogus intelligence about the quality and competence of Russian forces in order to lull them into a false sense of security? That may be a more accurate explanation for the gross miscalculation of Western planners.”

    So, you wonder if the NYT hasn’t been duped again. The Russians want more meat for the grinder. Not done yet.

    1. Feral Finster

      The point is to grease the skids for the next big aid package. The narrative will be that Russia is on the verge of collapse we just need a few tens of billions more and victory is ours ZOMG!”

      That we see so many such articles appear everywhere all at once suggests a coordinated effort.

      1. Samuel Conner

        I suspect that “victory is achievable!” memes may have expired. But “stalemate is achievable!” might still have some legs.

      2. Randall Flagg

        Could not agree more!
        Yahoo news yesterday, three articles mentioning the sorry state of the Russian military.
        I think the worst though was listening yesterday to Here and Now ( the PMC radio show produced by WBUR, the public radio outlet in Boston. Why did I do this, sometimes it’s comic relief it’s such a joke), and Robin Young was interviewing Jake Sullivan( I think) about how Ukraine needs our help and needs it NOW!! Because if we don’t stop Russia now in Ukraine, soon Russia will take over Ukraine and then they will be at NATO’s doorstep and the whole of Europe is next. And on, and on. Of course the interviewer was more interested in sucking up( or reading talking points),with this subject than asking any questions with history in mind such as,” Weren’t we the ones pushing NATO to Russia’s doorstep over the last 30 years?” You know, easy questions like that.
        A finer display of oral sex on the radio I doubt one could find.

  21. The Rev Kev

    “Can an Israeli security zone succeed in Gaza when it failed in southern Lebanon?”

    I am really starting to get the impression that the Israelis themselves don’t know how this will end. They have no idea what the end-state will look like and it is having a detrimental effect on their strategy. So maybe the original idea was to bomb Gaza, kill a few tens of thousands of people and then have the people all flee to Egypt so that Gaza can be seized. But now that is not happening, then can only keep on bombing so as to be seen ‘doing something.’ Unfortunately for the Israelis, Hamas is also doing something and that is taking out armour and killing & wounding them by the hundreds. This is not a sustainable way of doing things for Israel and the clock is ticking.

    1. ambrit

      Israel has painted itself into a corner here. As long as Hamas can continue fighting, and not just in the Gaza, but on the West Bank as well, Israel cannot do aught but fight now itself. Any attempts at diplomacy will be seen as a massive failure on the Israeli government’s part.

      1. Polar Socialist

        Hamas doesn’t operate in West Bank. Yet the settlers and IDF have already killed hundreds of Palestinians there, while the PA (PLO) has been totally useless.

        1. jefemt

          Love love love that. And the many others you provide.

          Is that third-person formal, feminine or masculine? ie El Kosher Nostra, or La Kosher Nostra?

              1. Wukchumni

                I wanted to stand-up comedy, but there was always that stage fright thing-and what if I get heckled, gasp!

                Sit-down comedy on a vastly larger stage online isn’t too shabby, though.

    2. Feral Finster

      Israel knows exactly how it wants this to end – the ethnic cleansing and/or outright murder of the entire population of Gaza.

      The word “Amalek” said it all.

  22. Wukchumni

    Well he got on a jet
    And cruised to DC from Buenos Aires now
    Seems he forgot his drab green shirt
    Back in black to back now
    And with the Republicans blasting
    Goes pleading just as fast as he can now

    And he’ll have funds funds funds
    ‘Til Congress takes the money away
    (Funds funds funds ’til Congress takes the money away)

    Well the GOP can’t stand him
    ‘Cause he walks, looks and talks like he wants their border money now
    (You look like a disgrace now, you look like a disgrace)
    He makes whats already spent look like money down the drain now
    (You look like a disgrace now, you look like a disgrace)
    A lotta Donkey Show guys try to ingratiate him
    But the hard right lead him on a wild goose chase now
    (A wild goose chase now, a wild goose chase)

    And he’ll have funds funds funds
    ‘Til Congress takes the money away
    (Funds funds funds ’til Congress takes the money away)

    Well you knew all along
    That the Pachyderms was gettin’ wise to you now
    (You shouldn’t have relied now, you shouldn’t have relied)
    And since they took your ATM MIC pin
    You’ve been thinking that your funds are all through now
    (You shouldn’t have relied now, you shouldn’t have relied)
    But you can come along Mr. Z
    ‘Cause we gotta a lot of things to do now
    (You shouldn’t have relied now, you shouldn’t have relied)

    And he’ll have funds funds funds ’til Congress took the money away
    (Funds funds funds ’til Congress took the money away)
    And you’ll have funds funds funds ’til Congress took the money away
    (Funds funds funds ’til Congress took the money away)
    (Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo)
    (Funds funds ’til Congress took the money away)
    (Funds funds ’til Congress took the money away)
    (Funds funds ’til Congress took the money away)
    (Funds funds ’til Congress took the money away)
    (Funds funds til Congress took the money away)

    Fun, Fun, Fun, by the Beach Boys

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_o-N0fhZ0

  23. Jason Boxman

    Inside the Troll Army Waging Trump’s Online Campaign

    But what about hilbots?

    Mr. Heestand doesn’t work for Mr. Trump, but he belongs to a small circle of video meme-makers who have effectively served as a shadow online ad agency for his presidential campaign. Led by a little-known podcaster and life coach, this meme team has spent much of the year flooding social media with content that lionizes the former president, promotes his White House bid and brutally denigrates his opponents.

    Much of the group, which refers to itself as Trump’s Online War Machine, operates anonymously, adopting the cartoonish aesthetic and unrelenting cruelty of internet trolls.

    I dunno, liberal Democrats seem to brutally denigrate anyone in fly-over. From “deplorables” to “cling to”, there’s quite a history here. I remember when Trump got elected, someone at the big orange even suggested people in fly-over deserve to die when ObamaCare gets repealed. Oh, and racism!

    Lack of self reflection is clearly a tenant of modern liberalism.

    1. Feral Finster

      When they do it, it’s “trolling, Muh Democracy Is Under Threat ZOMG”.

      When WE do it, it’s an “online influencing campaign, totally benign”.

    2. Bugs

      Cranking up the blame machine already. The Squad, Putin, Xi and whatever other bs they can concoct in the next year will certainly be responsible for a big part of Biden’s loss. If they let Assange out of his dungeon, they could blame him too. Trump Troll Army has a nice ring to it though. Let’s go with that for now.

  24. Steve H.

    > What’s Left … And What’s Left?

    >> What united the Left historically was the belief that power was concentrated in the wrong hands, and sometimes this was all that united it.

    : Networked tribes are animated by what they are against, not what they are for. [John Robb]

    I’ve made lists of what Liberal meant in the 1970’s. The paragraph with ‘Liberal parties in Europe’ had most of these while assessing the class interests. The following video has several body blows of insight worth consideration:
    > Guy explains baby boomers, their parents, and trauma

    * I now see the video has been removed. I’ll try to track it, meanwhile there are insighful comments, for example My granddad was in the royal marines in WW2.

  26. Wukchumni

    Poor Rudy, or should I say soon to be poor Rudy…

    He gave me my biggest thrill of Benedict Donald’s first term with that oh so wonderful press conference @ Four Seasons Total Landscaping, where none of Trump’s operatives could discern that a place such as that in no way, shape or form, could or should be where they were, but like good troopers, nobody noticed.

  27. Mikel

    “Rifts between Biden and Netanyahu spill into public view” CNN

    Oh, please. All for show.
    The UN vote says it all.

  28. Feral Finster

    Of course, Orban will be bought and/or strong-armed into compliance. Orban’s rhetoric is a negotiating tactic so as to extract maximum concessions.

    Erdogan frequently does something similar.

    1. Benny Profane

      I don’t know. At this point, Orban is looking smart. Why would he agree to the 50 billion to a losing cause and jump on the EU clown car at the end and after so long? It’s not as though it’s going to do any good. Ukraine needs shells that work, not only cash, and we don’t have them.
      Pretty sure he’s been “pressured” for years. Now who’s laughing?

  29. CaliDan

    E-books are fast becoming tools of corporate surveillance Fast Company (Paul R)

    Had an academic advisor, an honest-to-goodness blacklisted HUAC survivor, who impressed upon me the importance of having my own physical library stuffed with all the banned goodies. Starting to amend that on my own: always pay cash and make sure to have a good place to stash them when the raids start (also maybe have a few dummy books on hand to throw them off the scent).

  30. Feral Finster

    “Biden Attacks the First Amendment: “Were there No Israel, there Wouldn’t Be a Jew in the World that Is Safe” Sam Husseini”

    So is Biden saying that the United States is unsafe for Jews? Were all Jews everywhere at all times “unsafe” before 1948?

    1. nippersdad

      That sounds like exactly what he is saying. Were one to listen to such as Schumer and Stefanik all day, one would want to flee the country. Promotion of a constant state of fear is their only recourse to the truth these days.

      1. Feral Finster

        Of course, Israeli exceptionalism and constant demands for special pleading have done more to fuel antisemitism than all the morons ever to post on Stormfront.

      2. Lefty Godot

        Is there anything that comes out of the mouths of Congresspersons (or the White House) about Israel that isn’t a barefaced lie? Or a distortion of reality so grotesque that it effectively serves as a lie?

        On the mass rape claims, Helena Cobban tries to discuss those in as even-handed a fashion as possible here.

  31. Feral Finster

    “Rifts between Biden and Netanyahu spill into public view CNN (Kevin W)”

    So what? Biden isn’t going to actually do anything about Israeli barbarism any time soon and Netanyahu doesn’t care if Biden wants to be his friend or not, as long as the shipments keep coming.

    Right now, Biden is trying to have it both ways and pissing everyone off.

    2. flora

      Possibly related. Lee Fang on Breaking Points. utube, ~14 minutes.

      Information WAR: Israeli Gov, Billionaires Mount Cancel Campaign

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjy3gmC0NEs

      Glenn said his reporting has focused on US foreign policy in Isr in the last 2 months.

      adding: The US House of Representatives just passed a resolution calling for Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth to resign.

      This sure looks like a full court press.

      1. ambrit

        “The US House of Representatives just passed a resolution calling for Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT’s Sally Kornbluth to resign.” What’s next, Bills of Attainder?
        We already have a ‘Star Chamber,’ it’s called ‘The West Wing.’

  34. HastalaVictoria

    Must take issue with a few points in Aurelian’s essay after all, as he mentions in his essay,that’s what we old leftist do!

    Gaitskill possibly best leader Labour never had? Oh dear.The man who introduced the first prescription and dental charges for the NHS in the early 1950’s (first move towards privatisation?) Also closely associated with the Bevin,Morrison parliamentary Labour clique that let the Spanish Republic die unaided.Anuerin Bevan surely would have been a much more interesting choice.Gaitskill the PMC made flesh.

    While I agree with much of what Aurelian says about T.U,s I won a Trade Union scholarship to Ruskin College Oxford in the early 70’s and can still remember the contempt Derek Gladwin (later Lord Gladwin), who incidentally managed Callaghan’s General Election campaign had for the ordinary member when I had an interview with him for a job the question still remains, What other organisation exists to fight for the working man?

    Despite all their faults the TU’s were/are the only institution to fight for the working class and while their faults were great their achievements were many and perhaps the USA working class could do a lot worse than revitalise and recreate the IWW

    1. AndrewJ

      My #1 reason, obscure as it is, that Biden is practically no better a President than Trump is that DeJoy still has a job.

      1. jefemt

        Boy Howdy. And not forwarding/suggesting (ie reversing his past) student debt be allowed to be discharged in bankruptcy (in lieu of repeated failed tries at various unpopular forgiveness schemes).

        Not much to like with Biden, but I gotta say Trump somehow rates lower, and that is a low bar.

        Sit it out, no more license and consent? Criminy. The horns on the dilemma of 2024 appear to be sharp and plentiful. And we haven’t really started!?

  36. Wukchumni

    These cryopreserved baby corals are the first to reach adulthood Yale Climate Connection
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    When I first read that, it seemed to say ‘cryptopreserved baby corals’ another ‘ground floor’ opportunity to make bank in the numismatrix.

  37. Sub-Boreal

    File under Class Warfare:

    a dissection of the “non-profit industrial complex”, using the impoverished Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, BC, as a case study: Too Many Non-Profits, Too Many Problems? (original open-access article) None of the conclusions will be the least bit surprising to NC readers.

    Excerpts:

    Governments get to “shirk responsibility” for inequality and decreased social spending by instead funding non-profits in the community, say the authors. And as non-profits grow, they become focused on generating revenue to maintain operations, weakening their accountability to those they serve.
    …
    “The non-profit industrial complex is a nice way to maintain the status quo while feeling like something is being done,” said co-author Jenn McDermid, a PhD candidate in interdisciplinary studies at the University of British Columbia.

    What’s unique about Vancouver’s context is the clustering of non-profits in the Downtown Eastside, say the authors, a neighbourhood where many residents deal with poverty, housing insecurity and health issues.
    …
    They also draw similarities between the non-profit industrial complex and English Poor Law legislation.

    As they write in the report, “both produce status and a salary for those in upper-level positions; both use business structures that underbid each other and subject people living in poverty to surveillance, violence and control.”
    …
    Among the outcomes: more rules, more paperwork and more public servants needed to administer non-profit programs, all of which take resources away from the people most in need of the services provided.

  38. .Tom

    Who watched Jimmy Dore’s interview of the Jan 6 shaman Jake Angeli-Chansley? I rather liked him. My better half asked if I believe what he says and I answered that I don’t see why not, it’s as likely to be accurate as anything I might have read about him. He’s launching a campaign to be a Representative in Congress and I liked his platform:

    1. A single bill voting law.
    2. Term limits for Congress members and staff.
    3. Criminalize lobbying.
    4. 7-figure fines, expulsion, and prosecution for all Congress members caught insider trading.

    1. flora

      I watched the interview. He sounds thoughtful and articulate. I also like his platform. Does he mean it? idk. He’s not asking for money from anyone and doesn’t have rich backers, as far as I know. That’s a good start.

      Also, his 2-3 minute definition of the ‘deep state’ was pretty good, imo. At least it made sense whether one agrees or disagrees with his definition.

    2. Oh

      “…fool me twice and you can’t get fooled again” – per the infamous politician who fooled a lot of people.

  39. Skip Intro

    Ukraine’s Elite 47th Mechanised Brigade Surrounded and Low on Ammunition: Critical Front Faces Collapse Military Watch. Out of character for Military Watch. Avdiivka. They don’t usually do battlefield accounts. Wonder if perceived necessary to inform readers Project Ukraine is in trouble

    They may also be pitching a scenario as a concrete example of the GOP sabotaging Ukraine’s otherwise inevitable victory in the personalized form of the ‘elite’ (albeit recently reconstituted again) AFU 47th (now with women!). They are preventing bullets from reaching these heroes, not the Russian control of their supply lines.

  40. Pookah Harvey

    Apparently we will now have to depend on the insurance industry for national medical data. Dr. Pierre Kory reports in The Hill that:

    With the worst of COVID behind us, annual deaths for all causes should be back to pre-pandemic levels — or even lower because of the loss of so many sick and infirm Americans. Instead, the death toll remains “alarming,” “disturbing,” and deserving of “urgent attention,” according to insurance industry articles.

    ….according to a new report from the Society of Actuaries. Mortality was 26 percent higher among insured 35-to-44-year-olds, and 19 percent higher for 25-to-34-year-olds, continuing a death spike that peaked in the third quarter of 2021 at a staggering 101 percent and 79 percent above normal, respectively.

    Actuarial reports — used by insurers to inform decisions — show deaths occurring disproportionately among young working-age people. Nonetheless, America’s chief health manager, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opted in September to archive its excess deaths webpage with a note stating, “these datasets will no longer be updated.”

    To some extent, we know what is killing the young, with an actuarial analysis of government data showing mortality increases in liver, kidney and cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Drug overdoses also soared nationwide, but not primarily in the young working class.

    Therein lies the most pressing question for insurers, epidemiologists and health agency officials. Why is the traditionally healthiest sector of our society — young, employed, insured workers — dying at such rates? Public health officials aggressively oversaw the pandemic response, for better or worse. Why aren’t they looking into this?

    Yeah, why aren’t they looking into this?

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